bike choice
Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:35 pm
Hi,
long time reader/first time poster!
I'm a roadie really but had a jaunt around Wombat Forest last Sunday with a few mates.
They were on a Trance and an Anthem and I was on a 17 year old steel framed Trek with an elastomer front fork and canti brakes.
To say I was at a disadvantage is an understatement! Seriously, I had a 10 minute go on the Trance and it was massively easier than riding my old clunker!
Now I've been bitten by the bug but am not keen to repeat the experience on my old bike - as an absolute MTB beginner I also don't want to over invest OR buy something I will want to upgrade in a few weeks.
Following lots of forum bashing I have narrowed my choices down to either a hard tail 29er (Giant XTC 2 - $1200ish) or a DS 26" (Giant Trance X3 - $1700ish). - I am however quite happy to listen to other opinions!
Questions:
Would a hard tail 29er be suitable for terrain like the Wombat? (and would I be left behind by the duallie boys given a similar level of fitness?)
Would a Trance be a more versatile bike I would eventually get more use from? (and would it be overkill for my current skill set?)
Is there a category of bike I have missed or overlooked?
can't imagine that I will go every weekend, perhaps once a month with an occasional mid week ride thrown in.
Whatever I get won't HAVE to be used on the road - I'm happy commuting once in a while and rec riding on my roadie ('dale synapse).
I'd prefer to keep the cost down to around 1k if it were possible but as the examples above indicate I could go higher if there were compelling reasons.
Thanks in advance, Shipper
long time reader/first time poster!
I'm a roadie really but had a jaunt around Wombat Forest last Sunday with a few mates.
They were on a Trance and an Anthem and I was on a 17 year old steel framed Trek with an elastomer front fork and canti brakes.
To say I was at a disadvantage is an understatement! Seriously, I had a 10 minute go on the Trance and it was massively easier than riding my old clunker!
Now I've been bitten by the bug but am not keen to repeat the experience on my old bike - as an absolute MTB beginner I also don't want to over invest OR buy something I will want to upgrade in a few weeks.
Following lots of forum bashing I have narrowed my choices down to either a hard tail 29er (Giant XTC 2 - $1200ish) or a DS 26" (Giant Trance X3 - $1700ish). - I am however quite happy to listen to other opinions!
Questions:
Would a hard tail 29er be suitable for terrain like the Wombat? (and would I be left behind by the duallie boys given a similar level of fitness?)
Would a Trance be a more versatile bike I would eventually get more use from? (and would it be overkill for my current skill set?)
Is there a category of bike I have missed or overlooked?
can't imagine that I will go every weekend, perhaps once a month with an occasional mid week ride thrown in.
Whatever I get won't HAVE to be used on the road - I'm happy commuting once in a while and rec riding on my roadie ('dale synapse).
I'd prefer to keep the cost down to around 1k if it were possible but as the examples above indicate I could go higher if there were compelling reasons.
Thanks in advance, Shipper